


The Only Things in All of Existence

by MoominQuartz (IceCreAMS)



Series: Fluff Bingo [10]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Drabble, Fluff, Gen, Kid Fic, Mother-Son Relationship, Pillow & Blanket Forts, Pre-Season/Series 01
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-29
Updated: 2020-03-29
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:08:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23383549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IceCreAMS/pseuds/MoominQuartz
Summary: An eight-year-old Steven asks for Garnet's help with a very serious project.
Relationships: Garnet & Steven Universe
Series: Fluff Bingo [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1655521
Comments: 16
Kudos: 125
Collections: Writing Squad Fluff Bingo





	The Only Things in All of Existence

**Author's Note:**

  * For [KrisseyCrystal (IceCreAMS)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/IceCreAMS/gifts).



> Written for the [Fluff Bingo](https://moominquartz.tumblr.com/post/613961178901774336) prompt Garnet + baby Steven + "blanket forts"! He's not exactly a baby here, but listen. He's always baby, isn't he?

Garnet warps into the temple after another long mission. She’s already planning on a hot lava bath to relax before the stream vanishes, but as her feet land on the warp pad, something odd comes into her vision.

The temple is as it has been since Steven moved in a few months ago. Everything is in its place; the cheap television in front of Steven’s closet, all the tools of the kitchen tucked neatly away, and the couch remains exactly where it should be.

The only issue is, of course, that everything else is askew.

Steven’s mattress has been moved downstairs. The coffee table has been pushed toward the warp pad, only just enough that it blocks the bathroom. Couch cushions are everywhere, and Garnet doesn’t need to use her future vision to know who the source of this is. Steven was in the middle of pushing a cushion upright to lean against another when she enters the scene, and he turns to her with stars in his eyes.

“Oh, hi Garnet!” His voice is high and eager as always.

“Hello, Steven.”

“Welcome back!”

Garnet takes several steps forward. Steven’s grin fades as he seems to realize what she’s looking at. “Oh, I… I’m working on a blanket fort. It’ll be super cool when it’s done!”

“A blanket fort.”

“Dad and I would make these!” Steven laughs. “Well, we didn’t have cushions, but we’d unzip the sleeping bags all the way so they’d lie flat and we’d pin them up around the van so you couldn’t see any light out! And then we’d pull out a flashlight and play games and read books and stuff!”

Garnet, quite frankly, does not see the appeal.

“You can do all of those things with sunlight, too.”

He pouts. “Oh, I know! But that’s not the point!”

Garnet wonders if there is a point at all. It seems like a profound waste of time, and it will take even longer to clean than it’s taking him to set up. 

“Do you, uh…” Steven scratches the back of his head, face turning pink. “Do you wanna join me? It might be easier with two people.”

“This seems like something someone else should do.”

He blinks, startled. “What do you mean, ‘someone else?’”

He sounds hurt. Garnet doesn’t know why that bothers her when really, she hardly knows Steven, this amalgam of human and gem, neither Rose nor Greg nor anything like them. She clears her throat. “Amethyst or Pearl.”

“I asked Amethyst but she made a  _ giant  _ mess and got mad when I told her she was doing it wrong.” Steven’s eyes turn downward to the floor. Embarrassment, perhaps. “And Pearl was talking about… angles? And measuring stuff? And I told her we shouldn’t do it that way, cuz it doesn’t  _ need _ to be perfect. It shouldn’t be perfect, that’s the point! And then she got upset too, and…”

Steven sniffs. “And I just… I just wanna… Dad’s not here right now, so I just…”

He’s crying.

Garnet comes forward, to Steven’s side as he bawls. He presses his face into his hands like he’s ashamed of it, though Garnet doesn’t understand why. She kneels next to him and puts a hand on his shoulder. He peeks out, still crying.

“Steven.” Garnet has no idea how to comfort a crying child. “Show me how you want to do it.”

He hiccups, tugging the collar of his shirt up to wipe at his eyes. “R-really?”

Garnet nods. His eyes light up again, still watery, and he’s still sniffing, but he grabs one of the cushions with his pudgy hands. “O-okay, so, if we lean them together into a triangle, I think we can get somewhere…!”

Garnet doesn’t quite understand it, but she’s glad she can help.

And if she is honest, curled up with Steven beneath couch cushions and blankets, there is something rather sweet about pretending the only things in all of existence are the two of you.


End file.
